What It Takes to Run the Tor des Géants

While ultra running isn’t new, its widespread popularity is a more recent phenomenon. Back in ancient times, people ran great distances for communication, survival, and, even, competition. The Greeks included long-distance runs in their Olympic Games, but even before that, a messenger famously ran the 26.2-mile distance from the battleground of Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory over Persia in the Battle of Marathon; tragically, he died from exhaustion after delivering the news. Until after WWII, marathons were considered pushing the envelope of fun. But by the 1950s, people started thinking beyond the marathon distance.

  Fifty miles as a race format was popularized by the New York Road Runners Club in 1966; the first 100-miler was the 1974 Western States Endurance Run. Today, events like the Leadville 100, UTMB (Ultra-Trail Mont Blanc), and Angeles Crest 100 test runners’ ability to cover a similar distance. But the 200-mile race, done in a single push, seems a bit extreme. While well-trained professional athletes can finish a 100-miler in under 24 hours, a 200-mile race typically takes multiple days. That’s a long time to be on the trail.

  Columbia Running Ambassador, Willie McBride, is no stranger to long distances, but this year, he fulfilled a dream by competing in the Tor des Géants. The 205-mile race in the Italian Alps features over 78,740 feet of climbing and exposes runners to almost every sort of weather—wind, rain, sun, ice and snow. Starting and ending in Courmayeur, Italy, the race navigates the beautiful Aoste Valley. Every year, elite athletes from around the globe confront the physical and psychological challenges of this grueling event, and this year, Willie McBride was among them. Here's what he has to say about the race.

I got into running back in 2004-5 after a climbing accident made me shift my focus from climbing to a safer way of pushing my mind and body.  Once I got the bug I started wanting to explore longer distances, marathons and ultra marathons, and have let it evolve from there.  I had done several road marathons and some big, long ultra-distance days in the mountains, but my first official ultra race was in 2009.  Since then, I’ve done many races from 50k to 200+ miles.  Some that were especially memorable are Fat Dog 120, The Bear 100, Mt. Baker Ultra, Tahoe 200, and the Moab 240.

TDG has been on my “bucket list” since I first heard about it in 2013/14.  It was relatively new then (just 3-4 years old) but was the true first mountain 200 miler anywhere.  It was the original 200 and the race that all the US 200s were modeled after, starting with the Tahoe 200 in 2014 (I came in 8th place that inaugural year!).  Ten years later I got it done:)

The hardest part of TDG for me was the mental aspect, just having to stay present and not let myself think ahead and get overwhelmed by the enormity of the challenge.  It was just too daunting to let myself think days ahead, or even to the top of the next climb; the only way to not get overwhelmed was to literally focus on each step and stay in the moment. I was able to do that pretty well overall but there were definitely times that I got psyched out and cried and had to build myself back up to keep going.  

  The most rewarding part was just finishing the thing.  Especially given that over half of starters don’t finish, and because of the insane difficulty of the terrain and the extreme weather we experienced, it felt awesome to reach my goal after digging so deep.  It also felt really good to acknowledge that successfully finishing this race and dealing with the myriad challenges it presented was the result of decades of accrued experience and skill, that resulted from passion and dedication.

Luckily, I prepared for TDG by mostly doing what I love: spending big days in the mountains, sometimes back-to-back to simulate longer efforts.  I did a 5-day backpacking trip with a client that was great time-on-feet training and traveling with more weight on the back.  I use the gym at Knot Springs (Portland, Oregon) occasionally too, just doing some basic weight training and bodyweight exercises-lunges, pull-ups, planks, spinning the legs on a stationary bike, etc.  Also, I spend a lot of time at the Knot Springs spa using the sauna, hot tub, cold plunge for recovery and mental health.

Ultra running, especially multi day events, just impacts you in a much deeper way, if only because they last so much longer.   If a marathon strips you down and makes you go to an introspective place, then a race that is 2 or 4 or 8 times longer just takes you that much deeper into those introspective mind states.  I would say that doing these sorts of things for me is more of a spiritual/mental/emotional pursuit than physical, at least in terms of what I’m seeking to get from it.  

I wanted to explore the 200-mile distance for the same reason I wanted to try a marathon after I’d done a half marathon, and why I wanted to try 100 miles after I’d done 100k (about 62 miles); there’s a very natural curiosity of “can I go even further?” that gets a hold of so many runners.  For me, the longer the distance, the deeper the experience becomes, the more your presence is demanded which provides the chance to peel back the layers of the onion and see what’s really inside.  I don’t always want to go that deep—sometimes a 10k or a half marathon is more than enough—but other times it feels right, and necessary, to go big.

I mix it up but lean toward the real food side of things over gels, etc.  Especially for these longer efforts where the overall pace slows down, it’s easier to digest real, slower burning foods.  It definitely depends on the objective though of course.  I’m not going to pack potato chips and a turkey sandwich if I’m trying to run a 10k quickly, but I would if I’m out for a 10–12-hour 50k adventure where I’m averaging 3 miles/hour with plenty of breaks.  But basically, I try to keep a good variety of fast burning and slow burning foods on me when I run and hike.

There’s no secret to training for 200s, it’s just a matter of getting out there and building up your miles and time on feet in a thoughtful, appropriate manner, avoiding injury and burnout along the way.  Some people try to do too much too quickly (build from 50k to 200 miles for example) and they pay the price with injuries and mental/physical burnout.  

  It is a new “hot” distance in that it’s getting more and more popular.  This is partially due to the fact that ironically the longer distances are more accessible to more people, pace-wise.  Some of these really long races you can finish with very little running, that makes it physically accessible to more folks.  So, then it’s a matter not of can you do this 200-mile distance physically, but do you actually want to commit yourself mentally to prepare for challenge this time-consuming.  More people are physically able to finish a 200-mile race averaging 2-3 miles per hour than can run a 10k at 5-minute miles.  It’s counter intuitive and one of the reasons the ultra-world is so fascinating: the longer the distance the more diverse things become in terms of age, pace and body type.  Inspiring to say the least!  

I laid down and was horizontal resting for 2-3 hours a night for the 5 nights but only actually slept probably 8-10 of those hours, total.  I ate mostly real food: pasta, cheese and crackers, soup, broth, ham and cheese sandwiches, cookies, fruit, plus my personal stash of Trail Butter, a delicious all-natural energy food product.

The usual: so much food, a cozy bed, sitting on the couch and relaxing and doing nothing, watching movies.

I don’t often listen to music when I run but TDG was so long and so mentally demanding that I found myself using music more often to help keep pumped up over the seemingly endless, sleep deprived hours. Usually, I’m all music as opposed to podcasts or audiobooks.

Definitely poles!  I’m a big fan of poles for mountain travel, especially if you have weight on your back or you are doing a lot of climbing and descending (like at Tor des Géants).  I’m shocked at the rare occasion where I see someone on rugged mountain terrain with no poles at all.  Poles require practice to use them well but to me utilizing them is a no brainer.

People can start on this journey of foot travel (what I call the combo of running and hiking) by simply getting out there and starting to move, slowly building up the distance over time.  To get to the longer distances safely requires a thoughtful, sustainable approach so patience is a requisite too.  Seeking guidance via experienced coaches is always a good idea too, or at least doing your own reading and research on training styles, recovery techniques, etc. etc. etc.

Typically, weather is the biggest safety factor in a big mountain race but sometimes, like in TDG, it’s extreme weather and gnarly, sometimes exposed terrain that ups the ante danger-wise. This year at Tor definitely pushed my limits in this way—at one point I truly felt like things were on the edge of being too much to safely navigate, but luckily, I made it through relatively unscathed and, after some time soul-searching and getting more safety info on the route ahead, I decided to continue on in the race.  There was cell service for much of the TDG route, so I was able to be in regular contact with my crew and there seemed to be fairly extensive safety protocol on the side of the race organization as well.   But make no mistake, this event and many others are quite seriously extreme, oftentimes traversing very steep and exposed terrain with the potential for serious injury or death, and then add wet, freezing, snowy weather over high alpine passes and it gets real very fast.  Add sleep deprivation to all that and it only gets more potentially disastrous.   But having done it and survived I now feel like I can do anything… :)

Typical daytime running kit (shirt, shorts, running vest, hat, sunglasses, extra snacks) plus overnight cold/wet weather gear (warm hat, gloves, rain jacket, puffy jacket, long pants, headlamp, extra headlamp (required) etc. I’m grateful for Columbia. The brand provided me with great gear in every category that kept me covered along the way… especially the new Konos shoes that took a true beating over 210 miles and 85,000 feet of ascent and 85,000 feet of descent!